How to Propagate Calamansi

Seeds

• 1

  Slice the skin of a calamansi fruit in a circle around the fruit with a sharp knife. Grasp the two halves and twist them open. Squeeze each half over a bowl to extract the seeds. Pour water into the bowl and swish the seeds around to remove the pulp. Discard any seeds that float. Pour the remaining seeds into a sieve and finish washing them. Spread them out on a paper towel to dry.

• 2

  Pour 1 or 2 tablespoons of powdered fungicide into a bowl. Pour the dry seeds into the fungicide and stir them gently until they are coated. Sow them immediately at any time of year or place them in a sealable container and store them in the refrigerator until the following spring. Purchased seeds should be sown in the spring. For best results, sow fresh seeds immediately.

• 3

  Fill seed flats or small plant containers with a mixture of equal parts clean coarse sand or perlite and sphagnum peat moss. Moisten the mixture. Sow the seeds 1/3 inch deep and 3/4 inch apart. Cover the flats or containers with a piece of plastic or put them into a clear plastic bag to retain moisture. Place them in bright, indirect sunlight in a cool room with a temperature of 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the plastic covering as soon as the seedlings appear. Germination takes two to four weeks.

Cuttings

• 4

  Cut 3- to 4-inch-long semi-hardwood stem cuttings from an existing tree in the summer. Make the cuts with sharp pruners below a growth bud or node. Remove any foliage from the bottom 1 to 1 1/2 inches of stem and cut the remaining leaves down by half with sharp scissors.

• 5

  Fill a container with clean coarse sand and moisten it before taking the cuttings. Poke 1/2- to 1-inch-deep planting holes in the sand with a pencil or screwdriver. Dip the bottom ends of the cuttings in powdered rooting hormone and plant them in the sand.

• 6

  Cut the bottom out of a milk jug or 2-liter plastic pop bottle and set it over the cuttings to retain moisture. Water the cuttings one to three times each day or as often as necessary to keep the sand moist. Place the cuttings in bright, indirect light in a room with average temperatures of 65 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Transplant them into individual containers when they have two, 2-inch-long roots which typically takes about two months.

Air Layering

• 7

  Select a branch that is the same thickness as a pencil on an existing calamansi tree in early fall. Slice off a ring of bark in a circle around the branch that is twice as wide as the branch is thick. Scrape the bark off carefully with a sharp knife until the cambium layer is removed.

• 8

  Moisten a handful of sphagnum moss and wrap it around the branch to cover the wound completely. Tie the moss in place with soft twine. Cover the moss with plastic wrap to retain moisture and wrap aluminum foil over the plastic wrap to block the sunlight.

• 9

  Cut the new calamansi tree off the old branch with sharp pruners when roots are visible through the plastic wrap. This ordinarily takes one to two months but may take as long as a year. Pot up the new tree and keep it in partial shade for a month before planting it in its permanent site.